News & Events

Hunter Pilots Gather at Tangmere

Wednesday, 1 October, 2008

Between April 1963 and May 1965, No 8 Squadron was commanded by Squadron Leader Tam Syme DFC, shown here in our picture. Based at RAF Khormaksar, Aden, the Squadron and its Hunter aircraft were heavily engaged in support of the Army in the Radfan Campaign of 1964. Mountainous country some 40-50 miles north of Aden provided the air and ground battlefield.
Now a resident of Florida, Tam and his wife Frankie recently visited the UK for a few days en route to a holiday venue in the Middle East. Museum Chairman, David Baron, who was a junior pilot on the Squadron during the period 1963-65, volunteered to organise a small reunion of old hands to coincide with Tam’s visit and so it was that 12 pilots and 2 groundcrew members who served together at the time plus their ladies gathered for a reception at a local hotel on the evening of 10th September, and a visit to the Museum on the following day where they were joined by Museum President, Duncan Simpson. For some, it was their first meeting since those heady days of 44 years ago, and the words “do you remember old so and so…” were heard more than once.